East Lake Urban Renewal

The area known as East Lake covers an area of land between Kingston Foreshore, Jerrabomberra Wetlands and Fyshwick. The study area which includes the Canberra Railway Station was first identified in the 2004 Canberra Spatial Plan as an area for possible future urban intensification. Since then a range of preliminary planning investigations have been undertaken by the Environment Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate in consultation with the community and key stakeholders.

Preliminary planning

Preliminary planning for East Lake explored opportunities for sustainable development, providing for a mix of housing and high-quality open space, biodiversity conservation, transport, community facilities and infrastructure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, waste and resource use to protect the environment. This was supported by a range of investigations including environmental, geotechnical, heritage, transport, railway master planning, tree assessment and a wide range of other reports undertaken by independent expert consultants and a partnership with the CSIRO.

Draft plans were subsequently released for community engagement between 2007 and 2010 to show how the area could be developed in the future:

Previous community engagement

Stakeholders in the future development of East Lake and the community have been previously engaged through a stakeholder reference group, public information displays, collaborative workshops, forums and online surveys. The engagement activities showed support for East Lake to be delivered as a sustainable urban renewal project, with some issues remaining to be resolved in the future at the detailed planning and design stage.

Previous community and stakeholder engagement outcomes will be an important reference in the project’s future phases. Copies of the previous consultation reports can be found at the below links:

Future steps

East Lake remains a significant opportunity in Canberra’s ongoing urban renewal which could deliver a range of environmental, social and economic benefits to the immediate and wider community. Detailed planning, design and development is anticipated to be completed in stages in response to Government land release priorities. Further opportunities to participate in reshaping this part of the city will be presented in advance of when the site is required for development. This includes a Territory Plan Variation which would involve further community and stakeholder engagement.

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